Disclaimer: The increase in my bank account doesn't come from selling this story or making profits from it, the money is from my parents who don't approve of my writings, so if they were paying me to do anything, it would be to stop writing FFs, which isn't going to happen, so don't worry people.
A/N: My GOD!!! This chapter got written a week after the last one. Unfortunately for you people, I'm away from home which means that this phenomena will not be apparent to you all.
Em: I'm glad you liked that update, heres the next. I can't remember what my plan for Jonesy's mum was, so its all good!
Sometime later found the Commander still sitting in the waiting room down the hall from Evan, this time asleep in a rather uncomfortable chair. He noticed not that the commotion outside Room 317 had subsided nor that a rather distraught-looking red-headed woman had arrived and had spent the last half-hour at his son's bedside, talking him through things like the surrogate mother she sometimes was.
Chris had gotten the news about Jonesy's stabbing via the town grapevine early on in the piece, but had planned to stay away until the time when she assumed that the general panicky, hubbub would have quietened.
Tom had then called for the lunches, something that he rarely did himself, but under the circumstances, what with all the irritable people around the station, was quite understandable. Chris felt for her quiet, stern, gold-hearted friend who ruled with an iron fist and generally showed no emotion.
When Tom informed her, somewhat off-handedly that the Commander was up at the hospital, she could have sworn (had she not known him better) that he was telling her this for a specific purpose. It was not until after he had left with the lunches in tow, that she recalled a somewhat rather drunken conversation in which Jonesy had revealed the Commander's total objection to relationships between fellow officers. There was no way, in Evan's opinion, that his stepfather would never approve of any relationship (or lack thereof, as it was at the time) between himself and one Teresa Gallagher.
Sending a quick thanks to whatever it was that made life make sense, and coincidences occur (A/N: I would say God, but I'm not sure if Chris is religious, agnostic or atheist) for making Tom Croydon perceptive for once in his life, Chris locked the bar, shoed several potential customers away from the front of the pub, and made her way towards the hospital.
"How are you doing mate?" Chris asked, opening the door to find a rather awake; and somewhat sheepish-looking Evan sitting up, once again, in bed.
"I'm okay. I'm wondering how Dad is though." Evan looked towards the window, as if he would find the Commander peering through it. "I…ahh… told him about Tess and the baby."
Chris raised an eyebrow, knowing little about the Commander but knowing quite a bit about his son and having reached her own conclusions based on various drunken-slurs from the younger of the two men. "How'd he take it?"
"If I were to say it went badly, it would be an understatement." His mind flashed back a few hours: "She's your superior officer. She's married to another bloke. And you go and get her pregnant?" Evan shuddered, willing himself to stay calm. "Let's just say that the gulf that exists between us has just gotten a lot larger, what with continental drift and all." Chris smiled at his slight joke. "Did you see him when you came in?"
Chris had never met the elder Jones, but was fairly sure that the only person who could possibly fill the position of a Commander in the Victorian Police. "He's slumped in the waiting room, asleep." She thought as to whether she should tell Evan the next bit and decided that it would probably be a big mistake not to tell him and have him find out later. "The nurses said that they had to banish him from in here and that after they came out he had worked himself into quite a state. They were beginning to seriously consider sedating him when he quietened down and fell asleep." She paused, unsure of how the young man was going to react. "I was going to wake him and see how he was, but they advised against it. Something about cheering you up, so I was about to put in a call to the local strippers… don't look at me like that Evan Jones. There are always bachelor parties going on at the pub."
He sent her a look that plainly said: 'whatever you reckon' and realised he was beginning to enjoy himself immensely.
"Anyway," Chris continued, "I didn't think that would go down too well with you, the hospital visitor policy or the lovely Tess."
Evan sighed, unsure of several things in his life. "What am I going to do?" He consulted the elder woman.
"About what? Tess, the Commander, the baby or being stuck in this hospital bed?" Chris had always been insightful and Jonesy was glad of that at this precise moment in time.
"All of the above, except maybe the hospital bed. Tatiana isn't going to let me out of here any time soon, so I might as well enjoy the time off my feet."
"Hmmm… sounds like a good idea. Know anyone who'd injure me for free to give me time off? Running a pub's rather stressful on the feet." They both smiled at the comment, allowing them to divert away from the serious side for a few moments. "But about the other ones, I'm not to sure. Shall we run it from the top?" As the patient smiled nodded, she continued. "Let's start with the Commander. What are exactly did he have to say."
There was a pained look on Evan's face for a moment. "His first reaction was that it had to be a joke." Evan knew that was not strictly true. There had been many emotions run over the older man's face. He didn't care to try and remember them. "Then he got angry and I started to panic. When I was small I was always scared when he was angry." He caught a look on Chris' face. "He never hurt any of us, it was just…" he paused, unsure of how to put this. "The word scary springs to mind. He hardly ever got angry but when he did it wasn't something I was used to so I generally got scared. So when he got that look on his face that he always used to get when he was angry, I had a panic attack."
"And I got kicked out of the room." A now calm Commander Jones entered, nodding to the woman beside his son's bed, closed the door behind him.
Chris looked at Evan, unsure of how he would react. When she saw that he was still sitting there happily, she rose to leave. "I should get back to the pub. Good to see that you're okay mate. If you need some reasonable food, better give me a call and I'll send someone down with something."
"Thanks Chris." Chris was surprised when he reached his hand up and grabbed it. "don't let the others be too hard on themselves, and keep and eye on Tess for me would you?"
With a nod of her head, Chris left, closing the door silently behind her.
"I'm sorry son." It was a simple sentence, but it set Evan's mind at ease and allowed him to sleep, naturally this time.
A/N: In the next couple of chapters there is PROBABLY going to be a time jump, from when Evan gets out of hospital, to when Tess gets sick, to when she has the bub, then to the END, which was written about a year ago- isn't it sad!